Another Eta Test Shot

Glenhuon (Bill) · #1 15-05-2009, 02:59 AM

Still kicking the bugs out. Here's tonights effort. Eta Carina with unmodded 300D on 150 F5 newt @ iso 800. 10 x 1 min subs and 5 darks. tweaked in Photoshop 7.
Tried some longer subs, but cloud rolled in.

edit:
Had a look at the longer subs and they're not as bad as I thought. Stacked the lot. 10x60s, 10x90s, 7x120s, 5 darks at each length. Processed in PS 7. Still learning to drive PS, so no doubt it could look better.

Bill

TrevorW · #2 15-05-2009, 02:56 PM

Not bad Bill plenty of data, black levels has been clipped which is easy to do try using curves before playing with levels

Cheers

AlexN · #3 15-05-2009, 03:53 PM

looking good Bill.. considering the amount of data you captured i have no doubt that further processing can get more nebulosity out of that! Focus looks good!

Isnt it nice to have clear skies!!

Glenhuon (Bill) · #4 15-05-2009, 04:13 PM

Thanks guys. I'll have a try at reprocessing the data using your tip Trevor. Was a bit of a hurried job to check the focus and tracking. Still working out what everything does in PS.

Been warm and dry here for weeks, some cloud but getting a few clear nights. OK for astronomy but not helping the farmers, driest period on record for this time of year.

Bill

Hagar (Doug) · #5 16-05-2009, 08:30 AM

Hi Bill, glad to see you have the camera out again. More exposure needed and you need to spend a bit of time to get your contrast and background correct.

Glenhuon (Bill) · #6 16-05-2009, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagar

Hi Bill, glad to see you have the camera out again. More exposure needed and you need to spend a bit of time to get your contrast and background correct.

Hi Doug, long time no see. Still working on getting the autoguiding going for the EQ5, so limited to about 2 min exposures to avoid egg shaped stars, had to replace the aging Dell lappy as it wasn't quite up to the job. Forgot to note the settings for the DSI, so having to fiddle around with it and refind them.
Still probing the mysteries of Photoshop, but learning slowly

I'll reprocess and take a bit more time with the data. The tips from yourself and the other guys is a great help.

Cheers
Bill

Glenhuon (Bill) · #7 18-05-2009, 12:25 PM

Got the autoguider going and tried a few 5 min exposures. Seems to be tracking OK, but it looks like the light polution here in town is going to limit how long I can make them. Starting to look very washed out.
1st one is a single frame jpg at 5 mins, iso 800. Second is a stack of 9 jpegs as the RAW images were really pale and I couldn't get much out of them.

Bill

TrevorW · #8 18-05-2009, 12:57 PM

Bill much better still plenty you can do with the image if you want too

eg: attached is your image adjusted in PS7 dragging the curves out a bit more, try for a S curve, play with levels, color balance although not a lot of data to play with at this image size.

This may appeal to some but not too others which is the way when processing images but IMO just play with the data until you find a balance which is both appealing to you and compares to other images posted of Eta

Or you can do something completely different as in the second it's up too you

Cheers

toryglen-boy (Duncan) · #9 18-05-2009, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Bill much better still plenty you can do with the image if you want too

eg: attached is your image adjusted in PS7 dragging the curves out a bit more, try for a S curve, play with levels, color balance although not a lot of data to play with at this image size.

This may appeal to some but not too others which is the way when processing images but IMO just play with the data until you find a balance which is both appealing to you and compares to other images posted of Eta

Or you can do something completely different as in the second it's up too you

Cheers

That first one is really nice, although i dont use Photoshop, i use Paint Shop Pro 9, are there any guides or tips you wanna pass on regarding post processing?

Glenhuon (Bill) · #10 18-05-2009, 04:00 PM

Thanks Trevor. Its better but I'm trying not to burn out the area around the Humunculus. Might have to give it another run tonight if the weather stays good. More subs but shorter. Think I'll cut it back to 2 mins or so, as the LP here is worse than I thought. Looks pretty dark, but the camera says otherwise.

Had another play with the RAW's, got a bit more out of them, but still overcooking that central area.

Bill